Legal professionals have emphasized a need to oppose Ola Olukoyede’s appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has generated substantial controversy.
According to a previous report from GISTLOVER President Tinubu appointed Olukoyede as the new EFCC chairman on Thursday, October 12, for an initial term of four years, subject to Senate approval.
Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s spokesperson, confirmed the appointment in a statement, saying that the citizen was taken into consideration for the job after Abdulrasheed Bawa, the EFCC’s suspended executive chairman, resigned.
Ngelale also confirmed Muhammad Hassan Hammajoda’s nomination as the EFCC’s Secretary for a five-year initial term, pending Senate confirmation.
But several legal experts have voiced their discontent with President Tinubu’s most recent nomination, questioning Olukoyede’s suitability for the job.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Sani Katu criticized the decision and said he would be one of the people to fight it. Even the creation of the EFCC Act itself, in his opinion, was not properly carried out by the National Assembly.
“There are laid-down rules and guiding principles for the appointment of the EFCC chairman. These rules are contained in the Act, which specifies that the appointee must be either a retired ACP of a rank similar to that of an ACP. This is a law that must be enforced.
“If the law is not obeyed during the appointment, it implies that the appointment is unlawful.
“For me, I have once challenged even the EFCC Act itself because the procedure for its establishment was not duly followed by the National Assembly. We challenged it in court. So, I’m not ruling out the possibility that others will go to court to challenge this appointment.
“I’m still assessing the circumstances surrounding the situation, and it’s possible we might be part of those who will challenge this appointment,” Katu reportedly said.
Under the condition of anonymity, another senior Nigerian advocate criticized the Nigerian Senate for failing to raise any objections to the appointment of the new EFCC chairman.
The legal professional claimed that Olukoyede’s selection was an attempt to undermine the EFCC and characterized the 10th Senate as a rubber stamp.
He said: “If there is a breach of the law, it is the duty of the Senate to intercept that and remedy it.
“It is the duty of the Senate to say his appointment is a breach of the provisions of the constitution, but this is a rubber-stamp Senate.
“It is a way of compromising the EFCC to make it a toothless bulldog that would not do anything for the country.”
On his part, the Director of Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Nigeria, Sam Amadi, said President Tinubu breached the provisions of the EFCC Act in the appointment of the commission’s chairman.
He said: “It might be politically convenient, but it entrenches impunity and lack of respect for the rule of law.
“After him, someone will take it a notch higher and abrogate the constitution. Time to end Buhari’s legacy”
